curmudgeons

Today was one of those days. I think we all have them. Sometime after the morning I started feeling pretty aggravated, and as the day wore on, my state of irritation only got progressively worse. I usually tend to stay more positive. Anything less than cheerful feels uncomfortable and unnatural. I couldn’t tell you why exactly, but today was different. Nothing seemed to really shake my mood.

Then I remembered some random advice I got from someone the other day. His words stuck with me: “don’t let the curmudgeons take away your shine.” I’m pretty sure he meant it as a joke, because the next thing he said was “#jibberish”. Yes, the hashtag was included. I honestly didn’t even realize curmudgeon is an actual word until about 2 minutes ago, when I googled it out of curiosity. In case you’re wondering, google’s definition is “a bad-tempered or surly person“.

Because curmudgeon sounded like a funny, made-up word to me, I created my own meaning. My personal definition of curmudgeon is jibberish for anything annoying that I don’t want to deal with.

I guess you could say my day was pretty curmudgeony then. Curmudgeons are everywhere, we encounter them all the time. They show up in differing forms, and they are here to stay. In my experience, as soon as I make peace with one curmudgeon, another is bound to appear.

For me, this captures a key part of what yoga is all about – shining through despite the curmudgeons. Allowing the curmudgeons to do their thing, they’re all just part of the process. Whatever that means for you.